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Scroll through social feeds or search results and you often see the same tired statistics about B2B buying behavior.
That oft-quoted “67 percent of the buyer’s journey happens digitally” statistic? It’s from 2013—ancient history when you consider how fast sales moves today. Yet outdated stats like that continue to shape most companies’ revenue growth strategies.
Fresh data from 2023-2024 tells a different story.
Drawing from recent sales statistics, research, and buyer evidence from Emblaze, 6Sense, G2, and SBI, and more, this article exposes five hard truths about modern B2B buying behavior that most sales leaders ignore.
Most importantly, you’ll learn how to turn these emerging trends into your competitive advantage in 2025 and beyond.
1. Informed Buyers Can Make Bad Decisions
Today’s B2B buyers are more prepared than ever—but all that prep doesn’t translate into better decisions. These statistics reveal a concerning disconnect between buyer confidence and sales effectiveness.
Buyers do a lot of research, but all that prep doesn’t mean they know what problem to solve.
Buyers are more independent than ever:
91% of buyers come to sales meetings already familiar with the vendor (6Sense)
97% of buyers check vendor websites before engaging (6Sense)
85% of buyers have largely established their purchase requirements before contacting sellers (6Sense)
But independence isn’t leading to better outcomes:
Only 9% of buyers consider vendor websites reliable sources of information (G2)
There’s an average 54.5% misalignment between how sellers and buyers perceive the core problem to be solved (Emblaze)
Buyers change their problem statement an average of 3.1 times during complex purchases (Emblaze)
73% of buyers believe they regularly or sometimes see fake reviews online (TrustRadius)
81% of buyers express dissatisfaction with their chosen providers (Forrester)
Here’s how leading sales organizations are turning this insight into action:
Challenge buyer overconfidence: Help sellers show buyers what they might have missed in their research, without making them feel bad about it. Train your team on ways to ask smart questions that make buyers think differently, while still showing respect for the homework they’ve done.
Evolve your digital presence: Build content that helps buyers understand their options, see what they might be missing, and grasp their challenges before they ever talk to your sales team.
Turn sellers into problem experts: Show sellers how to tactfully learn what their buyers think they know during discovery, so they can help buyers define their problems more clearly. Give sellers the right skills and tools to spot the difference between what buyers think is wrong versus what’s actually wrong.
Buyer overconfidence is just the first challenge. Sellers also need to reckon with the real power behind purchasing decisions—an ever-expanding group of executive stakeholders.
2. Complexity Is an Understatement
The days of single-decision-maker deals are over. Today’s B2B purchases involve larger, more diverse buying groups and even more complex (if that’s even possible) approval processes. These recent stats reveal just how much has changed.
Buying committees include more senior-level decision makers.
Decision dynamics are changing:
The average buying group has grown to include at least 10-11 stakeholders (6Sense)
For multi-national deals, buying teams expand to an average of 15.2 people (6Sense)
52% of buying groups now include decision makers at VP level or above (TrustRadius)
Initial stakeholders and final decision makers often have different priorities and success metrics (SBI)
Final decisions require alignment from at least 5 key stakeholders (6Sense)
In 79% of purchases, the CFO holds final decision-making power (G2)
Buying cycles are longer and more complex:
The typical B2B buying cycle now spans 11.5 months (6Sense)
Multi-national purchases take even longer, extending to 16 months on average (6Sense)
87% of technology buyers reported adjusting their buying process to ensure they only bought mission-critical products (Forrester)
86% of B2B purchases stall during the buying process (Forrester)
External advisors add another layer:
Nearly three-quarters (72%) of buying teams now hire consultants or analysts to help with purchasing decisions (6Sense)
Organizations using external advisors see longer cycles (13.6 vs 6.5 months) and larger buying groups (12.9 vs 6.4 people) (6Sense)
Here’s how market leaders are mastering the new committee dynamics:
Map the real decision dynamics: Help sellers map out who’s involved in buying decisions and every stakeholder’s priorities. Give them tools to build agreement across different departments and job titles.
Keep deals moving forward: Give sellers practical tools and techniques to maintain momentum across extended buying cycles. Teach them to guide large buying groups toward decisions and keep stakeholders on the same page throughout the process.
Speak the decision maker’s language: Build playbooks that help your team speak each stakeholder’s language. Train sellers to explain your solutions’ value in ways that connect to each decision maker’s priorities.
As if navigating this complex web of biases and approvals isn’t enough, timing creates another challenge. Even if you have the skills to get consensus, you might already be too late to influence the outcome.
3. If You’re Not Early, You’re Too Late
By the time your sellers enter the conversation, your buyers have done their homework and they’re likely already leaning toward a decision. These stats show just how powerful your buyers’ psychological biases can be.
Buyers have their vendor shortlists long before engaging with sales.
Buyers drive the engagement timeline:
81% of buyers initiate first contact with sellers, not the other way around (6Sense)
Buyers don’t engage until they’re 69% of the way through their journey (6Sense)
85% have largely established their purchase requirements before any seller contact (6Sense)
Most decisions are made before seller contact:
80-90% of buyers have their vendor shortlist before starting research (6Sense)
Shortlists are shrinking: 49% consider only 1-3 products, up from 33% last year (G2)
78% of B2B buyers shortlist only 3 vendors to evaluate deeply, making each interaction critical (Wynter)
71% of buyers went with their first choice product after creating their short list (TrustRadius)
Here’s how to get ahead of deals before they’re lost:
Shape Thinking Before First Contact: Create content that influences buyers early in their purchasing journey. Highlight risks and opportunities they might otherwise miss—before they get stuck on a specific solution.
Add Value to Informed Buyers: Equip sellers with insights buyers can’t just Google. Show them how to have conversations that teach well-researched prospects something new and valuable about their business.
Challenge without Losing Trust: Show sellers how to point out what buyers missed without making them look bad. Train your team to influence decisions even when buyers think their minds are made up.
You have a short window to make an impact on your buyer’s decisions. But if sellers fumble discovery, it can doom deals before they start.
4. Misdiagnosis Can Kill Deals
Recent research reveals a critical disconnect between how buyers and sellers perceive their core business problems—a misalignment that’s sinking win rates.
Problem alignment during discovery is critical to winning deals.
The alignment gap is massive:
Only 38% of CEOs report having the right data and insights to achieve their commercial goals (SBI)
83% of sales leaders admit their teams struggle to adapt to changing buyer needs and expectations (Gartner)
78% expect ROI within 6 months of implementing software (G2)
Problem alignment drives success:
When sellers and buyers align on the problem definition, win rates improve by 38% (Emblaze)
Problem-focused sellers are 30% more effective than solution-focused sellers, yet only 13% of sellers take a problem-minded approach to discovery (Emblaze)
Early-stage evaluation focuses on basic solution fit, while late-stage focuses on implementation and scalability (Wynter)
The most successful deals involve regular problem revalidation across the buying committee (SBI)
Here’s how to stop misalignment before it kills your deals:
Move beyond surface-level discovery: Help sellers become experts at exposing the real problems hiding behind standard discovery questions. Give them frameworks for facilitating deeper discussions that reveal true business challenges.
Pressure-test problem alignment: Create regular check-ins during your sales process to make sure everyone agrees on the core problem. Show your sellers how to catch and correct any confusion about the problem before it ruins the deal.
Keep refining as deals progress: Enable sellers to update and adjust the problem statement as more decision makers get involved and goals change.
While timing and alignment are crucial, there’s something even more fundamental that influences every deal: relationships.
5. Familiarity Trumps Features
You might be surprised how much past relationships influence buying decisions. These stats shows that familiarity and prior experience are big factors throughout the buying cycle.
Buyers are biased toward vendors on their initial shortlist.
You might be surprised how much past relationships influence buying decisions. These stats shows that familiarity and prior experience are big factors throughout the buying cycle.
Prior experience heavily influences selection:
84% of buyers choose vendors they’ve worked with before (6Sense)
90% of buyers have prior experience with at least one vendor they evaluated (6Sense)
For enterprise buyers, 86% shortlist products they’ve heard of before starting research (TrustRadius)
Prior relationships are so powerful that 90% of deals are won by vendors from the buyer’s initial consideration set (SBI)
Word-of-mouth recommendations carry the highest weight, with 73% of buyers ranking it as their most trusted source (Wynter)
Buyers prefer known partners:
Over 90% of customers report being satisfied with their current vendor relationships (6Sense)
74% say positive contract experiences make them more likely to buy again (6Sense)
Here’s how to turn customer relationships into more revenue:
Make every touchpoint count: Make every customer interaction count—even the small ones. Set up clear ways to measure success and show your customers how you’re helping them succeed over time.
Stop treating all deals the same: Recognize that winning new business needs different plays than expanding relationships. Enable sellers with messages and skills that match the buying context.
Build momentum between deals: Teach sellers how to build real relationships with customers between deals. Equip them to continually add value to customers and find expansion opportunities.
Understanding these five interconnected trends—buyer independence, committee complexity, early decisions, problem alignment, and relationship dynamics—is critical.
But knowledge alone isn’t enough. You need a new playbook for 2025.
Your Evidence-Backed Playbook for Revenue Growth
Your prospects are doing more research but making worse decisions. They’re more informed but less certain. They’re more empowered but facing greater complexity.
If you want to win over today’s buyers, you need to tailor your strategy to how they make decisions. That means:
Shaping decisions, not just responding.
Lead discovery conversations that help buyers spot hidden challenges
Develop messages and content that challenge conventional thinking about common problems
Share counterintuitive insights that expose blind spots in your buyer’s logic
Making every interaction count.
Help buyers define their problem statements clearly
Build the skills needed to navigate stakeholder dynamics
Implement sales processes that reflect actual buyer behavior
Playing the long game.
Measure and prove value at every commercial touchpoint
Use different approaches for acquisition versus expansion
Build meaningful relationships that transcend individual deals
It’s time to let go of outdated best practices and adapt your revenue strategy to how buyers actually make decisions.
When you equip and enable your team with evidence-backed processes, messages, and skills—based on modern buying behavior—you’ll win more for years to come.
Anton Rius, Sr. Director of Content Marketing, leads all content marketing strategy and production at Corporate Visions. Anton’s extensive experience supporting B2B revenue growth with insightful content has been featured in publications like SalesPOP! and Relevance. Anton writes regularly at Long Tail Thinking.
